AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HISTORY GROUP NEWSLETTER · Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter, No....

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HISTORY GROUP

NEWSLETTER ISSN 1443-4962

No. 64 October 2011

Publication details

Compiled for the Australian Newspaper History Group by Rod Kirkpatrick, 38 Gingham Street, Glenella, Qld, 4740. Ph. +61-7-4942 7005. Email: [email protected]

Contributing editor: Victor Isaacs, of Canberra. Deadline for the next Newsletter: 7 December 2011.

Subscription details appear at end of Newsletter. [Number 1 appeared October 1999.] It has appeared five times a year since 2001.

1 – CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS: NATIONAL & METROPOLITAN

64.1.1 THE FINKELSTEIN PRINT MEDIA INQUIRY

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has ordered an inquiry into how to increase scrutiny

and regulation of the print media. He has, however, rejected as ―utterly pointless‖ a push by the

Greens for an examination of media ownership with a view to increasing diversity. Newspaper

publishers have promised they will co-operate with the inquiry. News Limited chairman and

chief executive John Hartigan said the publisher had strong editorial standards and welcomed

scrutiny, but questioned why the inquiry should examine only print media. A Fairfax Media

spokesman has said the company will be an active participant, championing the importance of

independent journalism, which flourished in a less-regulated environment. Senator Conroy said

he had no interest in targeting any particular company. He has asked former Federal Court

judge Raymond Finkelstein and University of Canberra journalism professor Matthew Ricketson

to inquire into the regulation of print media, including online publications. In particular, the

inquiry will examine whether the Press Council, an industry-funded watchdog that examines

complaints against newspapers, is equipped to supervise an industry undergoing massive change

due to the rise of the internet and the demands of the 24-hours news cycle. The inquiry has been

asked to report to the Government by 28 February (Australian, 15 September 2011, pp.1, 8; see

also Media section, 19 September 2011, pp. 32 and 27).

The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

The effectiveness of current media codes of practice, particularly in light of technological

change that is leading to the migration of print media to digital and online platforms.

The impact of technological change on the business model that has supported the

investment by traditional media organisations in quality journalism and the production

of news, and how such activities can be supported and diversity enhanced.

Ways of substantially strengthening the independence and effectiveness of the Australian

Press Council, including in relation to online publications, and with particular reference

to the handling of complaints.

Any related issues pertaining to the ability of the media to operate according to

regulations and codes of practice, and in the public interest.

The Australian reported (22 September): Public hearings will be held in Melbourne and Sydney

as part of the government‘s inquiry. Those who make submissions to the inquiry will be invited to

appear at the hearings, to be held in Melbourne from 7 November and in Sydney from 14

November. The government will advertise in national newspapers to encourage submissions from

the public. Deadline for submissions is 31 October.

Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter, No. 64, October 2011 — 2

64.1.2 THE ANDREW BOLT CASE

The Federal Court ruled on 28 September that columnist Andrew Bolt broke the racial

vilification laws in two articles the Herald Sun published in September 2009. Justice Mordecai

Bromberg said he was satisfied that fair-skinned Aboriginal people were reasonably likely to

have been ―offended, insulted, humiliated or intimidated by the imputations conveyed‖ in the

articles. Justice Bromberg ruled that free speech and public interest exemptions under section

18D of the Racial Discrimination Act did not apply to Bolt because of the manner in which the

articles were written ―including that they contained errors of fact, distortions of the truth and

inflammatory and provocative language‖. Justice Bromberg also wrote Bolt‘s writing ―displays a

capacity to cleverly craft language to intimate a message‖. Consequently, his articles ―sought to

convey the message that certain people of a certain racial mix should not identify with a

particular race because they lack a sufficiency of colour and other racial attributes to justify the

racial choice which they had made‖. He added he ―formed the view that (Bolt) was prone to after-

the-fact rationalisations of his conduct‖. The Herald Sun is considering whether to appeal the

judgment.

Commentary on the judgment varied widely, particularly between the News Limited papers (the

Herald Sun is ultimately owned by News) and Fairfax papers. For example, Chris Merritt said in

the Australian (29 September 2011, p.2): “If the Federal Court‘s ruling in the Bolt case has

correctly applied the law, the entire community has a problem. The court‘s ‗Bolt principle‘ will

encourage Australians to see themselves as a nation of tribes – a collection of protected species

who are too fragile to cope with robust public discourse. Unless this is overturned on appeal, it

will divide the nation.‖ By contrast, David Marr, in the Sydney Morning Herald (29 September

2011), said: ―Freedom of speech is not at stake here. Judge Mordecai Bromberg is not telling the

media what we can say or where we can poke our noses. He‘s attacking lousy journalism. He‘s

saying that if Andrew Bolt of the Herald Sun wants to accuse people of appalling motives, he

should start by getting his facts right. Bolt was wrong. Spectacularly wrong. In two famous

columns in 2009 he took a swipe at ‗political‘ or ‗professional‘ or ‗official‘ Aborigines who could

pass for white but chose to identify as black for personal or political gain, to win prizes and places

reserved for real, black Aborigines and to borrow ‗other people‘s glories‘. But Bolt‘s lawyers had

to concede even before this case began in the Federal Court that nine of these named ‗white

Aborigines‘ had identified as black from childhood. All nine came to court to say they didn‘t

choose this down the track but were raised as Aborigines. Their evidence was not contested by

Bolt or his paper.‖

On 29 September the Herald Sun devoted its entire front page to Andrew Bolt‘s response under

the headline, ―THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR FREE SPEECH‖, and pages 36-37 carried another,

longer article by Bolt, ―Silencing me impedes unity‖. On 30 September the Herald Sun carried an

article by Miranda Devine, ―Bolt case has ominous echo‖.

64.1.3 MURDOCH STAYS AT HELM, BLACK EYE AND ALL

Rupert Murdoch has said he will remain chairman and chief executive of News Corporation and

has defended corporate governance practices at the media and entertainment group following the

British phone hacking scandal (Australian, 12 August 2011, p.19). Murdoch used a fourth-

quarter results briefing on 11 August to stare down a barrage of criticism over succession

planning, the make-up of the News board and his family‘s oversight of the scandal that led to the

closure of the London Sunday tabloid, News of the World. Murdoch said, ―The board and I believe

I should continue in my current role as chairman and chief executive, but make no mistake,

Chase Carey [chief operating officer] and I run this company as a team and the strength of that

partnership is reflected in our improved results.‖

His comments came as News Corp reported an 8.9 per cent rise in operating earnings for the

fourth quarter. The phone hacking scandal cost News its bid for full control of pay-television

group BSkyB and prompted police and parliamentary investigations. James Murdoch was

considered by some to be the heir apparent at News, but he has faced intense scrutiny over his

role in handling the company‘s response to the scandal. Asked about succession plans, Murdoch

said, ―Chase is my partner. If anything happened to me I‘m sure he‘d get it immediately if I went

under a bus. But Chase and I have full confidence in James.‖ Murdoch also defended the board‘s

independence (some directors have close ties with the Murdoch family), saying it was a very


strong board, very often very critical and we have a lot of free-ranging discussions. The profit

increase was driven by strong results from the cable, film and TV divisions, which made up 79

per cent of the $US1.4 billion ($1.36bn) operating income.

9 September: Rupert Murdoch has described the News of the World phone hacking scandal as

―a major black eye‖ for News Corporation but remains confident the media and entertainment

group will ―put things right‖ (Australian, 9 September 2011, p.21). The News chairman and chief

executive‘s latest comments about the scandal are contained in his letter at the front of the

company‘s annual report and came amid continuing scrutiny by British politicians and police of

events that led to Murdoch‘s closure of the paper in July. Murdoch, whose total remuneration

rose from $US22.7 million ($21.35m) to $US33.3m for 2010-11, will front shareholders at News‘s

annual meeting in Los Angeles on 21 October.

64.1.4 THE PM AND THE PRESS (1): HARTIGAN DEFENDS NEWS LIMITED

The executive chairman of News Limited, John Hartigan, accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard

of seeking to link the company to the News International telephone-hacking scandal in Britain.

Hartigan said on 20 July there was no evidence to suggest News Limited‘s publications had been

involved in wrongdoing. News Limited is the Australian arm of News Corporation (Australian, 21

July 2011, p.8).

Hartigan told News Limited staff: ―The behaviour that has been uncovered at the News of the

World is an affront to all of us who value the integrity and credibility of good journalism, the

reputation of the company and our own reputations as professionals. Phone hacking is the

antithesis of everything we stand for. It is a terrible slur on our craft.‖ (Mediaweek, 18 July 2011,

p. 10; and on the same page is a timeline of how ―a British media institution became a global

media pariah‖).

64.1.5 THE PM AND THE PRESS (2): GILLARD MEETS EDITORS

Talks between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and News Limited editors on 2 August were ―free

and frank‖, with discussions touching on the sensitive relations between her government and the

media company. News Limited spokesman Greg Baxter said everyone who attended felt the

meeting went well. The Prime Minister attended the meeting of masthead editors at the

invitation of News chief John Hartigan. The talks followed months of tension between the

government and News Limited, publisher of the Australian.

64.1.6 THE PM AND THE PRESS (3): GLENN MILNE AND JULIA GILLARD

On 29 August 2011, the Australian’s ―Commentary‖ page carried Glenn Milne‘s weekly column.

Milne wrote on the theme that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had lost all authority within the

broader Labor movement. The next day, on Page 2, the Australian carried the following

―Correction‖: ―The Australian yesterday published an opinion piece by Glenn Milne (‗PM a lost

cause for warring unions‘, Page 14) that included assertions about the conduct of the Prime

Minister. The Australian acknowledges that these assertions are untrue. The Australian also

acknowledges no attempt was made by anyone employed by, or associated with, the Australian to

contact the Prime Minister in relation to this matter. The Australian unreservedly apologies to

the Prime Minister and to its readers for the publication of these claims.‖

Nick Leys, the new writer of ―The Diary‖ in the Media section, used the above incident as the

catalyst for him to pop ―Ten Questions‖ to Clive Mathieson, the Australian’s editor in Leys‘ first

―Diary‖. Asked what ―went wrong‖, Mathieson said: ―Processes didn‘t work—the piece clearly

should have been legalled—and obviously there was an element of human error in not picking up

the hardly hidden timebomb. I think Ewin Hannan‘s story in the Weekend Australian on

Saturday puts the matter in its proper context. It wasn‘t a conspiracy, just a cock-up.‖

The Hannan story, headed, ―8am call that put PM‘s old news on front page‖, appeared in the

Weekend Australian, 3-4 September 2011, pp.1-2. Here‘s an extract of what reportedly happened

after Julie Gillard had telephoned News Ltd CEO John Hartigan on Monday morning, 29

August: ―[Editor-in-chief Chris] Mitchell was at his Manly property on Sydney‘s northern beaches

reading the morning newspapers and drinking tea when Hartigan called and asked him to ring

Gillard. When Mitchell rang and spoke to the Prime Minister, he said, she was ‗apoplectic‘. He

had been on the end of verbal sprays from Paul Keating, he said, but ‗they were nothing


compared to this‘. Asked yesterday for comment regarding the accounts given by Hartigan and

Mitchell, a spokesman for the Prime Minister released a one-paragraph statement last night that

read: ‗Those accounts of the conversations are false and inaccurate. Considering what the

Australian has already published this week, that‘s hardly surprising.‘ According to Hartigan and

Mitchell, for an hour on Monday morning there was a flurry of phone calls, emails and texts

between them, Gillard and lawyers, including News Limited‘s chief general counsel, Ian Philip.

Hartigan said he had six conversations with Gillard during this period, as well as exchanges of

text messages and emails.‖-pop

64.1.7 THE ENDS AND THE MEANS

Journalists who work for News Limited are allowed to be secretive and stealthy, writes Chip Le

Grand (Australian, Media section, 18 July 2011, p.30). They can operate by clandestine means.

Sometimes, they can be downright sneaky. Journalists who work for Fairfax can be deceptive.

They can construct an artifice to escape the force of an argument or nasty consequence. To put it

frankly, they are allowed to lie. Who makes this distinction? The respective in-house codes of

conduct that journalists from Australia‘s rival media tribes are ordered to follow. [The article

proceeds to highlight clearly the differences between the codes.]

64.1.8 THE AUSTRALIAN AND ROBERT MANNE

Under a ―Setting the Record Straight‖ banner, the Weekend Australian devoted two pages of its

Inquirer section on 17-18 September to defending itself against Robert Manne‘s Quarterly Essay,

―Bad News: Murdoch‘s Australian and the shaping of the nation‖ (Issue 43, 2011). The articles on

the two pages were: [p.6] Nicolas Rothwell, ―A mirror to the nation at large‖ (the role of the

Australian); Michael Stutchbury, economics editor, ―Reforms, not rampant spending, saved us

from the global crisis‖ (economic perspective); Greg Sheridan, foreign editor, ―On the receiving

end of some nasty and wilful misrepresentation‖ (foreign affairs); Chris Kenny, ―The Oz aims to

provide a range of news and opinions, not make decisions for its readership‖ (the media

perspective); [p.7] Graham Lloyd, ―In denial of his own set of rules‖ (reporting climate change);

and Chris Mitchell, editor-in-chief, ―A critic untroubled by facts who seeks silence to dissent‖

(indigenous Australia).

Here‘s how Rothwell began his article: ―When the Australian first saw the light of day in

Canberra almost half a century ago, it was very much a dream in print: a new newspaper for a

young nation. It had no secure home market: it was designed to be a mirror for Australia at

large. It was a project, a hope, and the blueprint for its design was grand. Its concerns would be

national, not parochial; it would be a newspaper of ideas, not social interests. Much, over the

intervening years, has changed, but some features of the landscape have stayed the same. The

Australian is still an ambitious project, still under construction, as, doubtless, it always will be –

still a ramshackle enterprise run by frail mortals aiming for the stars.‖

On 19 September, the Australian published six letters responding to the newspaper‘s two-page

response to the Manne Quarterly Essay. One of the letters was from Manne himself. He said: ―On

Saturday, the Weekend Australian published six articles, a blog, a cartoon and an editorial

attacking my Quarterly Essay, ‗Bad News‘. In total this amounted to about 12,000 words. The

articles contained literally dozens of errors of fact and interpretation. I wish readers of the

Australian to be aware that when I requested a righty of reply it was refused.‖ The editor

refused, in stinging style, and said ―[a]ny substantive corrections will appear on the Australian’s

website‖. On 1-2 October (p.18), the Weekend Australian did, in fact, provide Manne with a right

of reply, of 1000 words. Peter van Onselen, contributing editor, on the same page, also wrote a

critique of Manne‘s Quarterly Essay.

64.1.9 RECENT CHRONOLOGY

64.1.9.1. EVENTS

13 August 2011: Bundaberg NewsMail printed in Bundaberg for final time. It is now printed at

APN‘s Yandina‘s print centre. The Fraser Coast Chronicle of 20 August was the last paper

printed on the Bundaberg press—on the evening of Friday, 19 August.

16 August 2011: Sixtieth anniversary of the first issue of the Australian Financial Review,

which began as a weekly. See Mediaweek, 22 August 2011, p.9.


5 September 2011: Townsville Bulletin celebrates 130 years of publication.

10 September 2011: Mackay Daily Mercury printed at Mackay for final time. It is now printed

at APN‘s Rockhampton print centre. From July there was a progressive changeover, with three

issues a week being printed at Rockhampton and three at Mackay.

64.1.9.2 DEATHS

Chalmers, Robin Donald: D. 27 July 2011 in Canberra, aged 82; sent to Canberra in 1951 as

a Daily Mirror reporter; joined Don Whitington‘s Inside Canberra Newsletter in 1957 and took it

over when Whitington died in 1977; sold it in 2003 but bought it back; retired two days before he

died; had worked in press gallery for 60 years; he had recently finished the final draft of an

autobiographical manuscript which the Australian National University plans to publish by year‘s

end (Canberra Times, 30 July 2001; Australian, Media section, 1 August 2011, p.30; see also Alan

Ramsey‘s obituary at http://inside.org.au/sixty-years-in-the-gallery/)

Freedman, Bernard: (see 64.5.2 Armit (for his obituary publication details).

Kennedy, Leslie Richard: D. 10 August 2011 in Sydney, aged 53; born in Darwin, later

attended Liverpool Boys High, Sydney; joined News Ltd as a copy boy in 2976; became a cadet at

the Australian in 1978; moved to Liverpool Champion; joined AAP in 1983 and the Daily

Telegraph in 1986; recruited by Sydney Morning Herald in 1997; broke many good police-rounds

stories; moved to Sun-Herald; was at the coalface of some of the biggest NSW cases, including the

Donald Mackay murder, the arrest of Robert Trimbole, the murder of Victor Chang, the

Strathfield massacre, Ivan Milat‘s rampage, the Granny Killer and the gang wars of Sydney‘s

south-west (Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2011; see also Mediaweek, 22 August 2011, p.11).

Nason, David: D. 22 August 2011 in Adelaide, aged 57; worked in print (Northern Territory

News and Darwin Star), television and radio news in Darwin, where he set up a bureau for the

Australian in 1993; later headed the paper‘s Brisbane, New York and Adelaide bureaus; dynamic

force in coverage of Northern Territory politics in 1980s and 90s and was a Walkley finalist for

his coverage of the NT‘s euthanasia debate (Australian, 23 August 2011, p.8).

O’Brien, Rosamund Monica Mary: D. 11 July 2011 on the Gold Coast, aged 79; born at

Junama, near Tumbarumba in the Snowy Mountains; studied shorthand, typing, English and

basic bookkeeping at RMIT in the late 1940s; learned ropes as a junior journalist on the British

Commercial News; various other jobs before joining the Australian News and Information

Bureau; married Bob O‘Brien March 1962 (same surname as her maiden name); in 1972, began

publishing, with husband Bob, the Ballarat & Central Gazette from home in Clunes; sold it

several years later to the Ballarat Courier, and it trades today as the Ballarat News; in 1979, she

began working for the Ballarat News and one year later was appointed managing editor; over the

next 11 years she enhanced the paper‘s popularity with new columns and by placing greater

emphasis on junior sports coverage (Age, 27 August 2011).

Stevens, Charles John: D. 24 July 2011 in Melbourne, aged 81; born in Adelaide, but grew

up there and in Melbourne and Sydney; started in journalism as a copy boy on the Barrier Daily

Truth, Broken Hill, where his grandfather had been a reporter in 1888; in late 1940s joined the

News, Adelaide, as a reporter and moved quickly into production; joined Melbourne Herald in

early 1950s and was running the subs‘ desk when Rupert Murdoch approached him in 1963 to

help launch the Australian; moved to Canberra and became the first chief sub of the new

national daily; when Murdoch moved the paper to Sydney, Stevens returned to Melbourne where

he joined the Age; served as a news executive and features editor, managed the London office in

the early 1970s and was European correspondent in the mid-1980s; between executive stints,

penned his often hilarious ―News Diary‖, feature articles and the award-winning ―Marvellous

Melbourne‖ column; was a deputy editor of the short-lived David Syme & Co afternoon paper,

Newsday, and founding editor of the Sunday Press (Age, 29 July 2011, p.16).

64.1.10 PRESS COUNCIL STANDARDS

Suicide: The Australian Press Council has issued new reporting standards for suicide. The

result is expected to be more media coverage of suicide. Press Council chairman Julian Disney

said, ―There should not be a taboo on reporting of this kind.‖ Professor Disney said it had been

decided to review standards on media reporting of suicide after a Senate committee inquiry on


suicided in 2009. Suicide is the main cause of death for Australian men aged 44 and under and

for women aged 34 and under (Australian, 2 August 2011, p.5).

Standards project: The Australian Press Council has launched a standards project to examine

the journalism practices at newspapers and magazines. In August, the council held the first of a

national series of round-table discussions with community members and print media

representatives on what newspapers and magazines could do better. Revised standards will be

released individually, with the next revision expected to deal with the issue of journalists seeking

access to hospital patients. The new standard is likely to require journalists to identify

themselves when they enter a hospital, rather than waiting to be asked, and to obtain informed

consent from interviewees (Australian, Media section, 8 August 2011, p.29).

64.1.11 PEOPLE

James Chessell, who had been doing excellent work covering the media round for the

Australian, has joined the Australian Financial Review on the promise that the paper will reopen

its London bureau. Brett Clegg, new publisher of the Financial Review, made the appointment in

his first week in the job. He was with the Australian six months ago (―The Diary‖, Australian,

Media section, 19 September 2011, p.31)

Don Churchill has resigned as chief executive of the Fairfax‘s Melbourne Publishing unit

with responsibility for the Age, Sunday Age, and Fairfax‘s 33 community newspapers and

magazines (Australian, 26 July 2011).

Matt Cunningham, new editor of the Northern Territory News, was featured in a full-page

report by Neil McMahon in Mediaweek, 1 August 2011, p.9. He was also featured in ―Ten

Questions‖ by Caroline Overington, Australian, Media section, 15 August 2011, p.31.

Trent Dalton, assistant editor of the Courier-Mail and writer for the ―Qweekend‖ magazine,

was named Queensland Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards and was profiled in

Mediaweek, 26 September 2011, p.14. He‘s also a blogger and screenwriter.

Peter Gleeson, editor of the Townsville Bulletin, has been appointed editor of the Gold Coast

Bulletin, where he worked for 17 years before taking up the Townsville appointment in 2008 (see

ANHG 48.3.3.). Gleeson replaces Dean Gould, see immediately below.

Dean Gould has resigned as editor of the Gold Coast Bulletin to become the communications

director at Griffith University (Australian, Media section, 5 September 2011, ―Small Talk‖, p.30).

Rupert Guinness, a senior sportswriter on the Sydney Morning Herald, was interviewed by

Neil McMahon, Mediaweek, 8 August 2011, p.9, after covering his 23rd Tour de France, the one

that an Australian won for the first time.

Lachlan Heywood, former deputy editor of the Sunday Mail, Brisbane, is the new editor of

the Townsville Bulletin.

Brad Hunter, Phil Hillyard, Craig Greenhill and Greg Porteous, photographers for the

Daily Telegraph, Sydney, are interviewed in Mediaweek, 5 September 2011, p.8,

Brian McCarthy was paid a termination fee of $2.36 million when he left Fairfax Media in

December 2010, according to the company‘s just-published remuneration report. Michael Gill,

former chief executive of the Financial Review Group, received a $713,000 payout (Australian,

Media section, 26 September 2011, p.30).

Peter Meakin, director of news and public affairs for the Seven Network, was the subject of

―Ten Questions‖, in ―The Diary‖, Australian, Media section, 1 August 2011, p.31. Meakin‘s first

job was as a copy boy at the Adelaide Advertiser. [If you want to know much more about Meakin,

read Gerald Stone‘s Who Killed Channel 9? The book also has much to say about former Fairfax

editor, John Alexander.]

Christine Middap, editor of the Weekend Australian Magazine—which appeared in

revamped style on 20-21 August—was ―Person of the Week‖ in Mediaweek, 8 August 2011, p.6.

Caroline Overington has completed her stint, of a little more than 12 months, writing ―The

Diary‖ for the Australian’s Media section. Her farewell note appeared on 22 August. Nick Leys is


the new ―Diary‖ writer. His first column appeared on 5 September. Overington, a novelist, now

writes for the Weekend Australian Magazine.

Nick Papps, new editor of the Geelong Advertiser, was featured in a full-page report by Neil

McMahon in Mediaweek, 25 July 2011, p.10.

Ken Piesse, journalist, asserts that he is ―Australia‘s most published current author, certainly

for sport‖. His 64th and 65th books were published on the same day in August 2011. Read more

about him in ―Money‘s Melbourne‖, Age, 29 August 2011, p.18.

Ruth Pollard, Middle East correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and Age, is

interviewed in a double-page spread in Mediaweek, 12 September 2011, pp.16-17. Pollard is a

former federal president (media) of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Nick Richardson, formerly group news editor at Leader Community Newspapers,

Melbourne, has been appointed editorial training manager for all News Limited division in

Victoria. Richardson is a former journalism lecturer who is one of the authors (with Stephen

Tanner and Molly Kasinger) of the journalism text, Feature Writing: Telling the Story, 2010.

Stuart Rintoul, of the Australian, was defended by colleague Chip Le Grand, the paper‘s

Victorian editor, in the Media section of that paper (8 August 2011, pp.32, 28) after ABC-TV‘s

Media Watch had critiqued a Rintoul report on climate change.

Michael Stutchbury, economics editor of the Australian and editor of the paper (2001-06),

has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Australian Financial Review (Mediaweek online, 29

September 2011).

Claire Sutherland, editor, mX (Melbourne), was ―Person of the Week‖ in Mediaweek, 18 July

2011, p.6.

Scott Thompson, editor of Brisbane‘s Sunday Mail, was ―Person of the Week‖ in Mediaweek,

5 September 2011, p.6.

Judith Whelan, editor of Good Weekend magazine for the past seven years (see ANHG 27.6),

has been appointed Saturday editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. Lauren Quaintance, Fairfax

Magazines managing editor, was appointed acting editor of Good Weekend until a permanent

replacement could be announced (Australian, Media section, 25 July 2011, p.30).

Amanda Wilson, editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, was one of the female media leaders

featured in a full-page article, ―Female leaders shaping the landscape‖, Australian, Media

section, 29 August 2011, p.29.

64.1.12 FAIRFAX AND APN CONTINUE PRINTING TALKS

The rationalisation of printing presses on both sides of the Tasman remains a key strategic

objective for newspaper publishers as a growing number of readers and advertisers migrates

online (Australian, 19 August 2011, p.21). The chief executives of APN News & Media and

Fairfax Media have stressed the need to push ahead with negotiations that could eventually

result in the consolidation of overcapitalised printing presses in Sydney, Melbourne and parts of

New Zealand. APN chief executive Brett Chenoweth told analysts during the group‘s interim

profit briefing that he was keen to establish printing and distribution partnerships with other

operators, believed to include Fairfax. Chenoweth said his immediate focus was the Kiwi

operations as he sought to build APN into an ―infrastructure-light‖ company. Fairfax is engaged

in talks with News Limited (publisher of The Australian) about consolidating Sydney and

Melbourne facilities built to produce much bigger newspapers than exist today.

64.1.13 SMH APPOINTS READERS’ EDITOR

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun-Herald have appointed a readers‘ editor to find out

from readers ―what they like, don‘t like, and what they find wrong or right about what we do‖.

The appointee, Judy Prisk, has been a journalist all her working life. In her first weekly column,

on 24 August, Prisk said she had served the Herald in such roles as ―managing chief sub-editor,

stylebook editor, check sub-editor, training editor and a regular stand-in as letters editor‖ and so

she ―knew her way around the nooks and crannies‖. She sees herself as a ―readers‘ advocate‖. She


works closely with Reader Link, which remains the point of entry for general editorial inquiries

(Sydney Morning Herald, 20 and 24 August 2011).

64.1.14 REPORT SAYS OUTLOOK SOUND FOR NEWSPAPERS

Newspapers are moving successfully into the digital era, according to a report by industry body

The Newspaper Works. The State of Australian Newspapers 2011 report, released on 22 August,

shows that seven of the top 10 news websites are owned by newspaper publishers and that

Australian smartphone and tablet users have downloaded one million newspaper apps. Print

newspaper ad revenue last year reached $3.67 billion, with an additional $259 million in digital

newspaper advertising revenue, the report says. When search, directories and classifieds are

removed from ad revenue, print‘s revenue share has remained stable over the past five years at

about 27 per cent. Last year, display advertising revenue grew 6.5 per cent to $2.56bn, the report

says (Australian, Media section, 22 August 2011, p.29).

64.1.15 CADEL SPECIAL EDITION

When Australia‘s Cadel Evans clinched victory in the Tour de France cycling race, the Sunday

Herald Sun issued a special edition at 2am on 24 July. ―Fourth‖ (edition), it indicated on the

inside gutter. It was the first time an Australian had won the event.

64.1.16 SALLY NEIGHBOUR’S PROFILE OF CHRIS MITCHELL

ANHG 64.5.2 (below) mentions Sally Neighbour‘s profile of the editor-in-chief of the Australian,

Chris Mitchell (Monthly, August 2011, pp.16-28). Errol Simper commented on this article in his

―A Certain Scribe‖ column, Australian, Media section, 22 August 2011, p.27. Here‘s an extract:

Another aspect of Mitchell’s reign [at the Australian] that probably stands out, at least for long-term insiders and long-time readers, was his all but spectacular refocusing and crystallisation of the newspaper’s editorial aims and directions. Over the course of about 18 months, the paper was all but reinvented. Mitchell made it clear his priority was genuine news – the publication of revelatory information of which the wider community would almost certainly not be aware. The brakes seemed to come off opinion writers. The Op Ed page became a fascinating, feisty forum for those with strong views, be they Right, Left or Centrist. Its leading articles became sharper, compellingly certain of the point, or points, they wanted to make. Some have said opinionated sections of the paper became more strident and contrarian under Mitchell. If that be so, then perhaps it shouldn’t be regarded as such an absolutely terrible thing. Because it’s only when you’re truly jerked into an alternative ideas pool that you become open to different views and values.

64.1.17 ENLARGED WEEKEND MAGAZINE

The Weekend Australian Magazine has appeared in enlarged format from the issue of 20-21

August 2011. Novelist Nikki Gemmell was featured on the cover of the first issue because she is a

new columnist for the magazine. Gemmell (p.14) expresses her delight at being home, at being

back for good from England—‖after 14 years I‘ve washed that land right out of my hair‖. Editor

Christine Middap (p.6) introduced the new magazine format. And the Weekend Australian itself

included an editorial, ―An investment in journalism‖ (p.15), arguing that technology is making

newspapers ―more, not less, competitive‖.

64.1.18 CIRCULATION—METROS

The weakest retail environment in 50 years and a drop in consumer spending were the reasons

the Australian (12 August 2011, p.24) offered for the 4.2 per cent drop—from 20.4 million to 19.5

million—in daily and Sunday newspaper sales throughout Australia for the three months to 30

June 2011 compared with the same quarter last year. The biggest percentage weekday falls

among the metros were the Courier-Mail, 8.01; Canberra Times, 5.31; Herald Sun, 5.22 (which

took sales below 500,000, and the Saturday sales fell below 500,000, too); and Daily Telegraph,

5.21. Both national dailies fell in what was a medium percentage range—the Australian, by 3.56

(to 130,307 sales), and the Australian Financial Review, 4.25 (to 73,769). Adding interest to the

table below, ANHG has inserted circulation figures from 10 years ago. In comparing the figures,

take into account that Audit Bureau of Circulations rules and measuring periods have changed

in the past 10 years. For regional daily circulations, see 64.3.8.


Circulation now Ten years ago April-

June 2011

April-

June 2010

%

variation

6 months to

June 2001

%

variation

to 2011

National

Australian 130,307 135,115 –3.56 132,145 –1.39

Weekend Australian 293,411 300,389 –2.32 304,923 –3.78

Aust Financial Review 73,769 77,046 –4.25 92,500 –20.25

Aust Financial Review

(Sat)

79,590 89,731 –11.30 92,000 –13.49

New South Wales

Daily Telegraph 354,393 374,395 –5.21 410,896 –13.75

Daily Telegraph (Sat) 329,366 339,621 –3.02 338,620 –2.73

Sunday Telegraph 621,982 638,550 –2.59 719,493 –13.55

Sydney Morning

Herald

200,194 207,013 –3.29 221,973 –9.81

Sydney M. Herald (Sat) 342,979 359,200+ –4.52 396,112 –13.41

Sun-Herald 426,559 446,710 –4.51 560,776 –23.93

Victoria

Herald Sun 488,600 515,500+ –5.22 544,938 –12.17

Herald Sun (Sat) 485,300 503,500+ –3.61 511,199 –5.07

Sunday Herald Sun 573,600 597,000+ –3.92 550,144 + 4.26

Age 197,200 197,500+ –0.15 195,727 + 0.75

Age (Sat) 275,000 279,900+ –1.75 326,010 –15.65

Sunday Age 227,100 224,600+ 1.11 199,008 + 14.12

Queensland

Courier-Mail 199,284 216,638 –8.01 214,241 –6.98

Courier-Mail (Sat) 274,513 296,650 –7.46 343,226 –20.02

Sunday Mail 484,711 514,405 –5.77 590,423 –17.90

South Australia

Advertiser 173,957 180,091 –3.41 201,813 –13.80

Advertiser (Sat) 238,215 245,406 –2.93 276,720 –13.91

Sunday Mail 284,401 300,856 –5.47 345,686 –17.73

Western Australia

West Australian 195,007 203,304 –4.08 211,370 –7.74

West Australian (Sat) 318,454 333,768 –4.59 385,000 –17.28

Sunday Times 283,524 303,581 –6.61 340,170 –16.62

Tasmania

Mercury 43,513 45,330 –4.03 50,223 –13.36

Mercury (Sat) 59,074 61,173 –3.43 65,097 –9.25

Sunday Tasmanian 56,297 58,682 –4.06 58,325 –3.38

Sunday Examiner 39,684 39,523 0.41 40,988 –3.18

Northern Territory

Northern Territory

News

19,985 20,562 –2.81 22,425 –10.88

NT News (Sat) 29,960 31,794 –5.77 31,354 –4.45

Sunday Territorian 22,036 22,056 –0.09 25,197 –12.55

ACT

Canberra Times 30,968 32,706 –5.31 38,938 –20.47

Canberra Times (Sat) 51,186 54,289 –4.43 72,198 –29.10

Canberra Times (Sun) 31,639 33,197 –4.69 38,931 –18.73

* Figures from Audit Bureau of Circulations.

64.1.19 FAIRFAX’S $400m LOSS

Fairfax Media Ltd recorded a loss of $400.9 million for the year to 30 June. James Chessell

discusses the implications in the Weekend Australian, 27-28 August 2011, p.23. He reported

another cost-cutting drive was planned by Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood. In 2009/10, Fairfax


recorded a profit of $270 million. But in the latest year there had been a $674.6 million

writedown in the value of mastheads. Mark Day discusses the Fairfax financial situation,

―Fairfax heyday seems well and truly over‖, Australian, Media section, 5 September. Day makes

particular mention of Roger Colman‘s ―devastating report on Fairfax‖. Colman is the media

research specialist at CCZ Statton Equities. Day writes: ―He made his report available to clients

in July when Fairfax‘s share price was 98c and has now released it generally. He says he now

nominates a target price of 56c, which values the company at less than its current debt level. He

also says he believes the flagship metropolitan mastheads, the SMH and the Age, have now

slipped into loss.‖

64.1.20 TEN YEARS ON (1): 300 MINUTES OF NOT KNOWING

Stephen Romei wrote (Australian, 9 September 2011) about where he was when the Twin

Towers fell on 9/11. He was in Manhattan. ―…I started that cloudless late summer morning as I

usually did: I checked the news online, probably had a fruit juice (I can‘t remember) and got into

my running gear, as I used to run each morning along the Hudson River, towards the Statue of

Liberty, and then back, before starting the working day… I was about to leave the apartment

when the phone rang. It was my counterpart in Washington, DC, Roy Eccleston, who was fairly

new to the post at the time but became an outstanding foreign correspondent.

―Roy asked if I‘d seen what was happening. When I said no, he told me to turn on CNN…

Needless to say, my initial reaction was not ‗Islamic terrorists have hijacked passenger airliners

and flown them into the twin towers‘. Like most people, I thought a small plane had hit the

tower, or there had been an accidental explosion inside it… Whatever it was, it was a story,

potentially a big one, and then I made, so casually, a decision that soon turned this into the worst

day of my life. I asked my then partner, Sally Jackson, then as now a reporter for the Australian,

to head out and ―get as close to the World Trade Centre as you can‖. It was late at night in

Sydney and the deadline was going to be tight, so I would stay at the computer and write. Sally

left the apartment, and soon afterwards the second plane hit. It was five hours before I saw her

again, 300 minutes during which 2977 people lost their lives and the world changed forever, but

which for me narrowed to the safety of one person. I called her mobile phone over and over, not

knowing that the transmission tower was on the WTC. I feared the worst. Who wouldn‘t have?

―But as it turned out, Sally got stuck on the stalled subway and was never at risk. She eventually

got close enough to the scene to be covered in soot and dust, but that was all. In 2006 I neglected

to say how much I admire what she did that day, and in the weeks that followed, writing on the

crappy laptop we had while I hogged the main computer, so I will say so now. And while I‘m at it,

I want to mention the other journalists from the Australian who were in the US when the attacks

happened and who worked on the story: in Washington, the aforementioned Eccleston and our

political editor, Dennis Shanahan, who was travelling with then prime minister John Howard,

and especially Jonathan Este, who was in the Big Apple on holidays and who worked tirelessly

over the next few weeks, doing lots of the shoe leather reporting that I‘m not particularly good at,

talking to people in hospitals and relief tents, chasing down Australian connections to the

bottomless disaster.‖

64.1.21 TEN YEARS ON (2): FRONTING UP TO TRAUMA

Reporters, photographers and videographers put themselves ―at enormous risk on 9/11‖ and

many have enduring health problems as a result, says Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the

New York-based Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma (Sally Jackson reports, Australian,

Media section, 12 September 2011, p.32). He says reporters came away from 9/11 not only in

some cases with physical injuries but also with psychological injuries such as post traumatic

stress disorder and depression. And the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001, was not a discrete

event. Within a month the US and other countries were fighting in Afghanistan. Within 18

months it had opened a second battlefront in Iraq. Journalists, many with no experience of

conflict reporting, raced off to these wars in large numbers. ―They were going to cover the great

story of their time, but one they were not prepared for,‖ says Shapiro. ―For journalists, like

everyone else, September 11 was a gateway event for a succession of challenging events: Two

wars, human rights violations, torture, secrets, assassinations … It has been a very challenging

decade.‖


In 2001, research on the mental health effects on people working in the media who witness

trauma was still developing. The Dart Centre had been founded just two years earlier, at about

the same time some of the earliest serious research on the subject was being carried out,

including in Australia. ―(9/11) sped growth in awareness in the news industry amongst

journalists and managers that covering large-scale disasters, large-scale violence, large-scale

tragedy, can have psychological consequences,‖ says Shapiro. ―(At) Dart we were beginning to

wrestle with these issues and 9/11, which was not some distant war but a catastrophe in the

middle of America‘s greatest city, put the psychological risk journalists can face front and

centre.‖

While journalists tend to be a pretty resilient tribe, professionally practised at detachment, they

are not immune to harm. Indeed, the attributes they often bring to the job, such as the ability to

empathise and connect with others, to concentrate and to focus, all can exacerbate stress. In

contrast to many reporters‘ macho, gung-ho front, research on war correspondents such as that

done by Canadian academic Anthony Feinstein starkly demonstrated the group‘s vulnerability,

documenting PTSD, depression and widespread substance abuse. And a reluctance to admit to

any of it.

64.1.22 THE BLOOMBERG WAY

If you have become contented with how you write, you may need to do some rethinking about how

precisely you write. It may help you to read Sally Jackson‘s ―Cult of Bloomberg way underpinned

by accuracy‖, Australian, Media section, 19 September 2011, pp.32, 28. Some extracts from the

interview with Matthew Winkler, of Bloomberg:

―We are, dare I say, obsessed with the most precise reporting. I am responsible for making sure

that everybody is faithful to what we aspire to be. So there is in [the book] The Bloomberg Way

chapter-by-chapter ... instruction on every subject that we write about. It‘s to ensure everybody

at Bloomberg, no matter who they are and where they are, have this shared standard… In one

sense, we‘re like carpenters or plumbers, in the sense that we have to make things work every

day and we have to do it consistently and we have to have the confidence of our readers. It‘s all

about precision ... and reverence for the reader. You never want to waste the reader‘s time. You

always want to let the story speak for itself and have the story be as dynamic as it can possibly

be. I‘m concerned about how well we write. How well we use words. How thorough we are.

Complete we are. Detailed we are. And there is never a day when I‘m not preoccupied by those

concerns.‖

2 – CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS: ONLINE

64.2.1 NEWSPAPERS ON iPADS by Victor Isaacs

The current conventional wisdom is that newspapers are not doomed, but that they must adapt

to a variety of mediums. Being produced on newsprint is no longer enough. They must expand to

electronic media. The content, in most cases, will be the same, but the presentation might be very

different. Indeed, we are now very used to having all Australasian newspapers also appearing on

the internet. The internet versions look very different from print. They usually encompass most

of what is in the print edition.

Now newspapers are starting to also produce versions specifically for iPads and iPhones. It is

still very early days in this regard. No doubt, in just a couple of years, we will look back on the

iPad versions of 2011 and regard them as particularly clunky and slow. There are two basic

versions of newspapers on iPads:

A complete reformatting to take advantage of the visual possibilities of iPads/iPhones,

and

A version which reproduces the exact physical appearance of newspaper pages. A number

of readers of the ANHG Newsletter will probably like this version, and feel at home with

it. However, these are usually slow to download – the bigger the newspaper, the slower

the download.

Here is a listing of what is on the market so far:


News Ltd

Australian/ Weekend Australian: iPad/iPhone special design

Herald Sun / Sunday Herald Sun: iPad/iPhone special design

Daily Telegraph / Sunday Telegraph: newspaper page reproduction

Courier Mail / (Brisbane) Sunday Mail: iPad/iPhone special design

Advertiser / (Adelaide) Sunday Mail: iPad/iPhone special design

Fairfax Media:

Sydney Morning Herald / Sun-Herald: iPad/iPhone special design

Age / Sunday Age: newspaper page reproduction.

APN:

New Zealand Herald/ Herald on Sunday: iPad/iPhone special design. This was the Australasian

pioneer, and possibly is the best iPad/iPhone design.

It will be seen that both major Australian publishers are experimenting with both types of

design. Curiously, in Sydney Fairfax offers the designed for iPad version, while News has the

newspaper page reproduction, whereas in Melbourne it is the opposite way around. At the

moment, this is probably the Best of Days, because most of these sites are being offered for free

while publishers still experiment, but at the moment this is probably also the Worst of Days,

because the sites are still often clunky and slow.

64.2.2 AFR PAYWALL REVIEWED

Fairfax Media has appointed a consulting firm, LEK, to conduct a long-term strategy review of

the Financial Review Group. Part of the review will no doubt be the paywall that the Australian

Financial Review has on its website (Australian, Media section, 15 August 2011, p.32).

64.2.3 STAND UP AND BE COUNTED AT MERCURY ONLINE

The editor of the Hobart Mercury, Garry Bailey, and the paper‘s online editor, Philip Young,

wrote in the Mercury on 26 July 2011: From tomorrow, we are taking the next step in the

development of our website as an integral part of our daily discourse with Tasmanians. Website

comments have added a great deal to public life in Tasmania – they can be colourful,

controversial, intelligent and thought-provoking. Now we want to lift the quality – and the

accountability. From tomorrow, all readers who submit comments to the Mercury Online

should provide their name (first name and surname) and suburb before it will be considered for

publication. All comments will also need to be sent from a legitimate email address. This brings

the website into line with the newspaper, which has a long and proud tradition of Tasmanians

happy to stand up and be counted.

Happily, other fans of our online community, our Facebook site, have been willing to have their

name attached to comments. They know that anonymity makes comments valueless. From now

on, if you have something to say, you need to be willing to put your name to it. We don‘t want to

stifle debate but simply make everyone more accountable. As always each comment will be

published on merit and feedback will be rejected if it does not add to a debate, or is a purely

personal attack, or is offensive, repetitious, illegal or meaningless, or contains clear errors of fact.

If what you want to say is too sensitive to attach your name to or you feel that by commenting

you place your job at risk, you can always contact our paper via the ―Your story tips‖ button on

the bottom of each page.

64.2.4 DIGITAL EDITIONS AVAILABLE IN HOBART

Damian Bester writes: Davies Brothers titles have been available as digital editions since 16

July. This includes the Mercury, Sunday Tasmanian, Tasmanian Country, the Gazette and major

supplements. Digital editions are priced the same as the print version. See http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/07/15/245995_tasmania-news.html

64.2.5 SEEK CONTINUES TO MAKE GAINS

Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat is confident the employment and education company will

continue to increase its share of the job advertising market at the expense of Fairfax Media and

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/07/15/245995_tasmania-news.html


News Limited. Seek reported a profit of $97.7 million for 2010-11, up 9 per cent on the previous

financial year. Bassat says 50 per cent of the employment ad dollars are still in print despite the

fact that ―more than 80 per cent of the activity is online‖ (Australian, 24 August 2011, p.33).

64.2.6 TWITTER DRIVES FEW TO SITES

Twitter is proving a poor platform for driving readers to print news websites, despite widespread

adoption by news organisations around the globe as a social media marketing tool, reports Simon

Canning (Australian, Media section, 19 September 2011, p.32). Research has revealed that the

social media phenomenon, which passed through the 100 million user barrier [in mid-

September], lags far behind rival Facebook when it comes to driving consumers to news media

websites. Analysis of figures compiled by Experian Hitwise shows that even though many

journalists and their mastheads use Twitter as a forum for their stories, the return on

engagement is almost non-existent. And in the case of two of Australia‘s biggest newspapers, a

football social media site delivers more clicks back to the newspaper websites than Twitter.

Facebook has proved the most valuable online marketing tool for media outside their own

websites, news aggregators and search.

3 – CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS: COMMUNITY & PROVINCIAL

64.3.1 APN (1): LOSS OF $98m FOR SIX MONTHS

APN News & Media Ltd reported a loss of $98 million for the six months to 30 June. The

company will continue to pursue ―modest‖ investment opportunities. A $156 million writedown of

the value of the New Zealand Herald is blamed for pushing APN into the red. The company‘s

print division was the main drag on earnings with net profit (excluding g the writedown) down 46

per cent to $21.8 million (Australian, 19 August 2011, p.21).

64.3.2 APN (2): O’BRIEN BUYS $6.6m STAKE

Irish telecoms billionaire Denis O‘Brien has bought a $6.6 million (1.4 per cent) interest in APN

News & Media Ltd. O‘Brien is the biggest shareholder in Independent News & Media, the debt-

laden Dublin group which holds a 31 per cent interest in APN. James Chessell discusses the

implications of the O‘Brien interest in APN in the Australian, Media section, 5 September 2011,

pp.32, 28.

64.3.3 ST GEORGE (NSW): 50 YEARS

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader issued a glossy 76-page 50-year anniversary book on 4

September 2011. It was available only through district newsagencies with the Sun-Herald. The

booklet featured significant and interesting news coverage (stories and pictures) of the 50 years,

1960-2010.

64.3.4 KYNETON: GUARDIAN NOW FREE

The weekly Macedon Ranges Guardian, Kyneton, became a free paper with the issue of 16

September 2011. The paper began on 6 September 1862 as the Kyneton Guardian. It was founded

by Mitchell King Armstrong and the Armstrong family owned it for the first 103 years. The paper

will be 150 years old next September.

64.3.5 BERNARD JOSEPH LEWIS (1917-2011), PROSPERPINE

Rod Kirkpatrick writes: It is strange how different forces can work to deny you significant

information that would normally come your way in a timely manner. The Queensland Country

Press Association emailed me in April to notify me of the death of Bernie Lewis, proprietor of the

Whitsunday Coast Guardian, Proserpine, but I did not receive the email because it was sent to an

incorrect address. In July, I stumbled on the fact that Lewis had died when I sent him a letter,

and his daughter-in-law, Cynthia, rang to tell me. This is to explain why this newsletter is some

months behind in recording an acknowledgment of the contribution Lewis made to Australian

journalism.

Bernard Joseph Lewis (1917-2011) and his wife Mary bought the Proserpine Guardian with Stan

and Maureen Busuttin in July 1960 and in February 1972, one of the Lewises‘ sons, Peter, and

his wife Cynthia bought the Busuttin interest. You can read much more about the Lewis family‘s


connection with the Proserpine Guardian in my Purposely Parochial (2008), pp.116-119. Bernie

Lewis became the epitome of the classic country newspaper owner-editor with his encyclopedic

knowledge of the district and its affairs and his careful attention to how he put words together.

He was still writing editorials up till within days of his death on 6 April, aged 93. His final

editorial appeared on the day he died. Son Kieran Lewis wrote a detailed obituary for his

father—Proserpine Guardian, 13 April 2011, p.11. Bernie‘s wife Mary died on 26 July last year.

Lewis will be long remembered by many Queensland country press identities for his deadpan wit

and fabulous anecdotes when acting as master of ceremonies at the Country Press Association

annual presentation dinners in the 1980s and 1990s.

Bernie Lewis (right) and son Peter outside the Guardian office, Proserpine, October 2007.

64.3.6 ARMIDALE, ETC: COMPANY UNDER VOLUNTARY ADMINISTRATION

Evans Publishing, an Armidale-based independent publishing company, has been placed into

voluntary administration. Sydney-based RMG Partners is investigating Evans and assessing the

business, which publishes the Tamworth City News and Armidale Independent, as well as

newspapers in Port Macquarie, Tweed Heads and Warwick. A spokesman for the administrators,

Geoff Davis, said the company would continue to trade as normal while its future was considered

(Northern Daily Leader, 4 August 2011, p.7).

64.3.7 MACKAY: PRE-TRIAL COVERAGE REVIEWED

Bruce McKean writes (Daily Mercury, Mackay, 9 September 2011, p.4): News reports and SMS

texts in the Daily Mercury were not enough to allow Clinton Kissier to have a judge-only trial

and not face trial by jury, Queensland‘s highest court ruled yesterday. The Daily Mercury’s pre-

trial coverage of Clinton Kissier‘s criminal history is now expected to become an Australia-wide

authority on media handling of court cases, legal authorities said yesterday. Kissier, now aged

24, was jailed in November 2005. Within 10 days of his release he committed a serious burglary,

for which a judge said he should be given ―a second chance‖, and he received a fully suspended

sentence. The coverage of the case generated numerous text messages and public comments.

Kissier himself came to the Daily Mercury and we published an article in which he said he

deserved another chance. In January 2008 we published a headline: ―He begged for a second

chance but guess what?‖ and we published a story about him re-offending. There was more

coverage of Kissier when a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He was also involved in a public

nuisance case involving kicking a man at a hotel, an incident caught on CCTV in September

2009. He faced a District Court trial last year for a home invasion, in which he, with two other


men, went to a South Mackay residence and used a pick and axe handle to assault a man. He

was convicted and jailed.

He appealed against the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal and in a judgment

handed down yesterday Justice Debra Mullins said a District Court judge had not made an error

in ruling that Kissier should not have had a no-jury, judge-only trial. Justice Mullins noted that

the judge who made the ruling expressed a view that some readers of the pre-trial publicity ―may

have sympathised with Kissier‖. The Court of Appeal devoted three pages to the Daily Mercury’s

handling of the Kissier saga. Kissier must serve the four-and-a-half year sentence for the home

invasion.

64.3.8 CIRCULATION—REGIONAL DAILIES

There were some dramatic falls in circulation among the regional dailies for the Audit Bureau of

Circulations figures to 30 June 2011. The Daily News at Tweed Heads lost 12.67 per cent (547

sales) to fall to 3770 and the Bundaberg NewsMail lost 11.22 per cent (1272 sales) to fall to

10,063. The best performer was the Gladstone Observer which gained 4.14 per cent to rise to

7419.

Newspaper April-June 2011

% Variation

Newspaper April-June 2011

% Variation

Border Mail, Albury

(M-S)

24,126 –2.44 Queensland Times,

Ipswich (M-S)

10,529 –2.44

Western Advocate,

Bathurst (M-F)*

3600 –3.82 Daily Mercury,

Mackay ((M-S)

15,069 –1.81

Barrier Daily Truth,

Broken Hill (M-S)*

5823 –1.41 Sunshine Coast Daily

(M-S)

19,144 –5.50

Daily Liberal, Dubbo

(M-F)*

4802 –9.41 Fraser Coast

Chronicle (M-S)

9103 –3.16

Daily Examiner,

Grafton(M-F)

5270 –7.05 North West Star, Mt

Isa (M-F)

2704 –7.90

Northern Star,

Lismore (M-S)

13,427 –7.14 Morning Bulletin,

Rockhampton

17,184 –2.93

Maitland Mercury (M-

F)*

4262 0.76 Chronicle,

Toowoomba (M-S)

22,300 –2.76

Herald, Newcastle

(M-S)

48,100 –2.43 Townsville Bulletin

(M-S)

25,169 –4.64

Central Western

Daily, Orange (M-S)*

4748 –4.39 Daily News, Warwick

(M-S)

3120 –3.97

Northern Daily

Leader, Tamworth

(M-S)*

7345 –2.83 Courier, Ballarat

(M-S)*

18,729 –0.69

Daily News, Tweed

Heads (M-F)

3770 –12.67 Advertiser, Bendigo

(M-S)*

13,337 –2.68

Daily Advertiser,

Wagga Wagga (M-F)*

11,498 –0.90 Geelong Advertiser

(M-F)*

25,092 –3.32

Illawarra Mercury,

Wollongong (M-S)

25,671 –5.12 Sunraysia Daily,

Mildura (M-S)*

7496 –0.23

NewsMail,

Bundaberg (M-F)

10,063 –11.22 News, Shepparton (M-

F)*

9764 –6.24

Cairns Post (M-F) 24,222 –5.96 Standard,

Warrnambool (M-S)*

12,661 –2.59

Gladstone Observer

(M-S)

7419 4.14 Advocate, Burnie

(M-S)

22,854 –2.62

Gold Coast Bulletin

(M-S)

36,157 –6.64 Examiner,

Launceston (M-S)

31,805 –0.44

Gympie Times (T-S) 5297 –4.88 Kalgoorlie Miner

(M-S)

5560 –1.85

* Circulation for January-June, Audit Bureau of Circulations.


64.3.9 SUNSHINE COAST: THE DANIEL MORCOMBE STORY

The Sunshine Coast Daily won the PANPA Newspaper of the Year Award for the 10,000 to

25,000 circulation category at much the same time as it was following up on the latest

developments in what has been its biggest story over the years: the Daniel Morcombe

disappearance. A man has been charged with Daniel‘s abduction and murder, two shoes

belonging to Daniel were found in forest near Beerway, and three bones that have been identified

as belonging to Daniel have been discovered in the same area. Daniel Morcombe was 13-years-old

when he disappeared from a Sunshine Coast bus stop in December 2003. See Mediaweek, 29

August 2011, p.10.

4 – NEWSPAPER HISTORY

64.4.1 THE ANGLICAN

The Church of England in Australia published the Church Standard from 1 June 1912 until it

was incorporated in a new newspaper, the Anglican, launched on 8 August 1952. A group of

journalists, included Francis James, had taken over the weekly Church Standard a month

earlier. The Anglican incorporated that paper as well as other diocesan and church papers (West

Australian, 26 July 1952, p.8). The Anglican was published until 4 September 1970.

64.4.2 BRISBANE COURIER AND QUEENSLANDER SOLD

The Brisbane Courier reported, 5 November 1873, p.2, on its sale: The Courier and Queenslander

newspapers, with the plant book-debts and jobbing office connected with the establishment, the

property of the Brisbane Newspaper Company, were sold by auction by Mr S. Fraser today. There

was a very large attendance, and after some spirited bidding, the whole property was knocked

down in one lot to Mr W. Baynes for the sum of £13,600 cash.

64.4.3 MR SQUIGGLE

The Barrier Miner, Broken Hill, 10 November 1953, p.2, reported that Ron Bird, a member of the

Commonwealth Reporting Branch, had used the same fountain pen, without change of nib, for 25

years. He had bought it to learn shorthand, and had used it for five years as a country newspaper

reporter, eight years as a school teacher, and 10 years reporting courts. In the previous 10 years,

he had taken an average of two hours‘ shorthand a day, a total of 6500 hours, making about 10

million shorthand outlines.

64.4.4 LEARNING TO WRITE FAST AND SPOT THE HUSTLE

Kathleen Noonan writes (Courier-Mail, 13-14 August 2011, p.M36): ―The prerequisites for a

young cadet reporter when I started was (sic) mastering shorthand and the construction of a

short, clear sentence, and learning how to drink and play pool. Afternoon shift in the newsroom

started at 2pm and halfway through there would be a dinner break when the office emptied. We

would go over to the pub to ‗have dinner‘. If the editor popped his head in, the chief sub was

‗having dinner‘. If anyone‘s wife rang, he was ‗having dinner‘. Over at the pub, having dinner

may or may not involve food. It always involved rehydrating (for putting out a paper is thirsty

work) and mostly involved playing pool. You returned and finished putting the next day ‘s paper

to bed. All sub-editors maintained the headings became better, the sub-editing was cleaner, the

stories were written quicker with a little fuel on board and reflexes sharpened by the game. As

one old journalist would tell me, beer in hand and smoke hanging off his bottom lip: ‗We are not

playing pool. We are seeking the higher truth of the green felt.‘ You learnt to play fast, drink fast,

write fast and, whether at the pool table or as a journalist, to spot the hustle.‖

64.4.5 THE ‘NATIONAL DAILY NEWSPAPER OF TASMANIA’

This is how Hobart‘s Mercury reported its new delivery arrangements for northern Tasmania on

15 March 1928, p.9:

The proprietors of the Mercury recently announced their intention to inaugurate a special service

for the delivery of the Mercury in the Northern districts of Tasmania in the early morning. The

necessary preliminary arrangements having been completed, the service will begin today

(Thursday). The innovation will place the residents of Launceston, Deloraine, and surrounding

districts on an equal footing with Hobart and the South in that the Mercury will be available to


all at breakfast time. This development is in accord with the policy of the proprietors to bring

about the distribution of the Mercury, the National Daily Newspaper of Tasmania, throughout

the State as speedily as possible. The approximate times at which the Mercury will be delivered

in the places mentioned, from today, are as follows:

Midlands: 6am. Launceston: 7am. Conara, Fingal and St Marys: On arrival of early goods

train between 6 and 9.30am. North-west townships to Deloraine: 6.30 to 7.30am. Beyond

Deloraine: On arrival of Morning Train. North-east towns: On arrival of Morning Train. Price,

l½d. per copy. Subscription rate: 10s. a quarter, payable in advance. Orders should be given to

local newsagents or forwarded to the Mercury office, Launceston. If any difficulty is experienced

in obtaining copies of the Mercury, please communicate with the Mercury office, Hobart.

WALTER H. CUMMINS, General Manager, Davies Brothers Limited. Hobart, 15th March, 1928.

64.4.6 MEDIA MUSEUM PLANNED

The Australian Museum of Motion Picture & Television (Inc.) is planning an Australian Media

Museum. The organisation‘s president, Daryl Binning, has recently held talks with its Melbourne

and Sydney branches about the project. Read the organisation‘s newsletter at

www.ammpt.asn.au

64.4.7 HOBART NEWS CLOSES AFTER 19 MONTHS

The Hobart News, owned by News Ltd (but mentioned in neither Desmond Zwar‘s nor R.M.

Younger‘s biography of Keith Murdoch), was published for 19 months in 1924-25. Here‘s an item

that reported its closure; it appeared in the Brisbane Courier, 28 December 1925, p.9.

HOBART, December 27.—The Hobart News announced the cessation of publication altogether in

its issue of December 26. It was stated that the working loss for 13 months to June 30 [1925] was

£15,000, and since then the loss had continued. Under the circumstances, the directors felt it

their duty to close the paper down in the interests of the shareholders, and give the company‘s

mainland papers less of a burden to carry. It was mentioned that the publication of the News

meant an annual disbursement of £38,000 in the State, and the employment of a staff of 70. It

was also mentioned that 63 per cent of the expenditure was in wages.

64.4.8 THE STAR IS WELCOMED

In Melbourne, Wilson and Mackinnon, proprietors of the daily (morning) Argus and the weekly

Australasian launched an evening daily, the Star, on Monday, 30 October 1933. The Star was

published on a sheet 13 inches by 17 inches (33.02cm by 43.18cm), or slightly larger than most

Australian tabloids now. ―The new paper is thus easy to manage and read in crowded trams and

trains,‖ reports said. The Star received a large number of letters from well wishers and

suggestions, some of which the Star planned to adopt. About 250,000 copies of the first issue, of

32 pages, were distributed (West Australian, 31 October 1933, and Star, 1 November 1933).

64.4.9 BRISBANE DAILY MAIL BEGINS

Rockhampton‘s Morning Bulletin reported (Wednesday, 7 October 1903, p.4): The first issue of a

new morning newspaper called the Daily Mail was made in Brisbane on Saturday [3 October]

and copies came to hand yesterday. Some difficulty had been experienced in the mechanical work

owing to a delay in receiving part of the plant, but this is a little matter which will be remedied

in a few days at most. Otherwise the issue is an excellent one. It is twelve pages, eight being of

nine columns and the other four of eight columns. There is no declaration as to the attitude the

paper will take up on general questions such as is usually met in first issues, but one short

article shows that the new paper is hostile to the present Queensland Government.

64.4.10 CAROLINE ISAACSON AND ‘SUPERB COOKS’

The Australian Women’s Weekly reported (31 July 1948, p.10): Granddaughter of Raphael Tuck of

Christmas card fame, former fashion writer for Vogue and Melbourne presswoman, Mrs Caroline

Isaacson, has lately become owner-editor-reporter of the Victorian country newspaper, News of

the Dandenong Ranges. During war, Mrs Isaacson went all over State on behalf of Red Cross.

Capable, charming, full of personality, she believes country women are superb cooks.

http://www.ammpt.asn.au/


5 – RECENTLY PUBLISHED

64.5.1 BOOKS

Manne, Robert, Quarterly Essay 43: Bad News: Murdoch’s Australian and the shaping of the

nation, Black Inc., $19.95. Examines the political agenda of the Australian and its editor-

in-chief, Chris Mitchell.

Postle, Bruce, The Image Maker, self-published. Limited print run of 1000 copies for sale for

$165 each through www.brucepostle.com. Postle, one of the great Australian

photojournalists of the 20th century, started his career in Brisbane in 1957 then moved to

Melbourne in 1969. He worked for Queensland Country Life, the Brisbane Courier-Mail

and the Melbourne Age. His book is a retrospective look at around 50 years of

photojournalism. Every picture tells a story and Bruce has captioned every image. With

an Introduction by Mike Smith, former editor of The Age, there are also articles by

authors and print and television journalists and broadcasters including Barrie Cassidy,

Gerard Whateley, Hugh Lunn, Richard Shears, Ross Ryan and Jennifer Byrne.

64.5 2 ARTICLES

Acland, Richard, ―Paper trail could lose its way‖, Age, Friday 16 September, also in Sydney

Morning Herald, same date under title of ―Inquiry into media ways sure to test Fink

tank“

Albrechtsen, Janet, ―The friction of freedom comes with open debate‖, Australian, 21

September 2011, p.14. The print media inquiry ordered by the Government smacks of

opportunism and revenge.

Armit, Michael, ―Journalist and broadcaster had 66-year career‖, Canberra Times 22

September 2011, obituary of Bernard Freeman 1924-2011, former journalist with the

Sydney Daily Telegraph, 2UW, Melbourne Argus, Department of Immigration,

Australian Jewish News.

Bolt, Andrew, ―Inquiry an attempt to browbeat media‖, Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph,

Wednesday 14 September.

Brennan, Nigel, ― ‗In 24 hours we will kill you‘ ―, Good Weekend, 25 June 2011, pp.12-18.

Kidnapped for a king‘s ransom, Australian photo-journalist Nigel Brennan spent 462

days in a Somali hellhole. This article is an extract from the book he has written about

his ordeal.

Day, Mark, ―Chance to fix the broken ground rules‖, Australian, Media section, 1 August 2011,

p.27. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy‘s Convergence Review will, the author

hopes, harmonise outdated media industry regulations.

Day, Mark, ―One company, but with different voices‖, Weekend Australian, 30-31 July 2011,

p.11. Far from toeing a corporate line, News Limited editors compete against one

another, writes a News Limited media writer.

Elder, John, ―Believe it or not‖, Sunday Age, 31 July 2011, Extra, p.15. Trust between the

public and the media is eroding and that‘s bad news for everyone.

Graham, Pam, Farewell the share economy‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-

September 2011, p.16. When NZPA closed in August, it was due to media rivalries, not

the balance sheet, says Graham. She presents her view on the demise of a journalistic

institution.

Grigg, Angus, ―News Agent‖, AFR Magazine, August 2011 (in Financial Review of 29 July). A

profile of News Limited‘s Australian CEO, John Hartigan.

Guthrie, Bruce, ―Judgment is coming: The media inquiry is a great opportunity to correct the

errors made by Paul Keating‖, Sunday Age, 18 September.

Hill, Jess, ―Go forth and verify‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-September 2011, p.13.

When official sources say something, a journalist‘s job is not only to report it but also to

http://www.brucepostle.com/

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/inquiry-into-media-ways-sure-to-test-fink-tank-20110915-1kbwm.html




check that it‘s true. The author explains how she uses social media to track what has

really been happening with the Middle East uprisings.

Holmes, Jonathan, ―Let no one license truth and understanding‖, Australian, 21 September

2011, p.14. The presenter of Media Watch argues that print is different from the new

media and should be free from government regulation.

Howe, Alan, ―Taking a rude joy in kicking the watchdog‖, Daily Telegraph, 3 August 2011, p.27.

A reflection on print media inquiries—six weeks before the Federal Government

announced the latest print-media inquiry.

Hull, Crispin, ―Different Aussie press on news button keeps us out of UK gutter‖, Canberra

Times, 23 July, Forum section page 11. Discusses the difference between UK and

Australian newspapers.

Jaspan, Andrew, ―Send in the gowns‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-September

2011, pp.17-18. From the groves of academe straight to your browser, The Conversation

is bringing expert knowledge to the mainstream, writes Jaspan, its editor and the former

editor-in-chief of the Age.

Kenny, Chris, ― ‗Love media‘ blind to grand narrative‖, Australian, 19 September 2011, p.14.

Some media commentators have failed to grasp obvious political realities, according to

this media commentator.

King, Richard, ―Written revolutions‖, Australian Literary Review, 3 August 2011, p.17. Online

magazines today should look to the Spectator 300 years ago.

Kirkpatrick, Rod, ―Surviving 150 years‖, GXpress, August 2011, p.38. A reflection on some

significant newspaper sesqui-centenaries being celebrated this year in Brisbane, Mount

Gambier, Toowoomba, Rockhampton and Orange.

McCraith, Mark, ―There‘s still plenty of life left in print‖, Australian, Media section, 1 August

2011, p.27. Papers are still a powerful platform for advertisers, says the chief operating

officer of media buying company Maxus.

Miller, Nick, ―Multimedia messenger‖, Sunday Age, 7 August 2011, Extra, p.17. Some call him

an oracle of modern media, others a liberal elitist. Jay Rosen explains why the news

business has a future.

Mills, Rob, ―Once were headliners‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-September 2011,

p.41. A Sydney Morning Herald sub-editor remembers the days when cut and paste

meant what it said.

Murphy, Katherine, ―Gates open for a fresh look into the Fourth estate‖, Age, Saturday 17

September.

Neighbour, Sally, ―The United States of Chris Mitchell: The Power of a Murdoch Man‖,

Monthly, August 2011, pp.16-28. An in-depth analysis of the power and relationships of

Chris Mitchell, the editor-in-chief of the Australian.

Pemberton, Greg, ―Silence on the face of authority‖, Weekend Australian, 30-31 July 2011,

Inquirer section, p.10. The Murdochs have a history of standing by their principles.

Phelan, Seumas, ―Grabbing eyeballs (and other skills)‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67,

August-September 2011, p.42. The author, a senior sub-editor with the Australian and a

double Walkley Award winner, explains how a sub-editor‘s headline is the start of a

darned good read.

Rawlinson, Clare, ―Celebrating the C word‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-

September 2011, p.23. The author found scoops for the Border Watch, Mount Gambier,

were less popular than stories that strengthened the community. Discusses findings of

Kathryn Bowd‘s PhD thesis which explored the role of regional newspapers in their

communities.


Romei, Stephen, ―...about literary journalism‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-

September 2011, p.46. The Australian’s literary editor reveals the ungenteel side of book

reviews.

Rosner, Josh, ―Manne bites Murdoch‖, Canberra Times, 10 September 2011, Panorama section,

p. 31. A review of Robert Manne‘s Quarterly Essay 43: Bad News: Murdoch’s Australian

and the shaping of the nation.

Shanahan, Dennis, ―Truth the casualty in media wars‖, Weekend Australian, 23-24 July 2011,

p.11. The Australian’s political editor argues that the Gillard Government‘s conspiracy

theories are without foundation.

Silvester, John, ―Two peas in a pod are Mr Press and Mr Plod‖, Saturday Age, 23 July 2011,

p.28. A discussion, in the author‘s ―Naked City‖ column, of the relationship between the

police and the news media.

Smith, Heather, ―On the same page‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67, August-September 2011,

p.43. The sub-editors at Pagemasters were proud of the job they did, but the authors asks

why Fairfax put so many jobs on the pyre.

Toohey, Paul, ―Conroy‘s media inquiry aligns us more to Fiji than true democracy‖, Herald Sun,

29 September 2011, p.36.

Vowles, Gill, ―Yesterday‘s news today‖, Hobart Mercury 27 August 2011. A description of the

Mercury newspaper museum.

Walkley Magazine, ―More faces from the AJA hall of fame‖, Walkley Magazine, Issue No. 67,

August-September 2011, p.40. Potted biographies of Graham Perkin, 1929-1975; Marien

Dreyer, 1911-1980; and Andrew Olle, 1947-1995.

Waterford, Jack, ―A link to the future and the past‖, Canberra Times, Forum section p.16. A

tribute to veteran Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery journalist Rob Chalmers who has

died at the age of 82.

ANHG subscriptions Requests for a new or renewed subscription to the Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter: A

subscription covers ten issues (two years). (1) Email Rod Kirkpatrick at [email protected] (financial contribution welcomed, but no fee

for electronic version); or (2) Post to: Rod Kirkpatrick, 38 Gingham St, Glenella, Qld, 4740 (hard copy, $60 for individuals; $75

for institutions). New or renewed subscription for hard-copy version (ten issues): please send to (Name) _________________________ (Address) ________________________________ _____________________________________________________Postcode _______________ I enclose $ – cheque made payable to R. Kirkpatrick (ANHG) – for TEN issues; or you can obtain

the ANHG banking details for internet transfer.

mailto:[email protected]

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